MARYSVILLE — History was going to be made regardless of who won the Division V, Region 20 high school football championship Nov. 21 at Marysville’s IMPACT Stadium.
North Union was playing in its first regional championship, while Indian Lake made its debut in the regional final last year where it lost to West Liberty-Salem.
“When the bracket came out, I was on record of saying a (Central Buckeye Conference) team is going to be coming out of this bracket,” North Union coach Nick Hajjar said of his team, Indian Lake and Graham. “I just felt it. I didn’t know which one. We put ourselves in a situation to be that team. We came up short, and they did it.”
Indian Lake prevailed in the second half to post a 35-21 victory over the Wildcats in Week 14. The Lakers (11-2) will now play Liberty Center (13-0), a 38-0 winner over Genoa on Friday. The game will be played Friday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. at a site to be determined this weekend.
Tight first half for both teams
North Union (9-5) controlled most of the first quarter. On its first possession, the Wildcats picked up five first downs, helped by a 19-yard carry by Wyatt Arver into the red zone, but the drive stalled at the 3. NU then forced a 3-and-out, and the Lakers had to punt from their own end zone. NU’s Griffin Osborne returned the short punt to the 15.
On the first place of the second quarter, Griffin scored on a 4-yard run to give NU a 7-0 lead. Indian Lake finally found its offensive rhythm with 4:18 to go in the half, driving 80 yards in 3:04 to tie the game on a Bradley Golliday scramble.
“The first drive of the game we didn’t get in and looking back that kind of hurt,” Hajjar said. “It was a bang-bang play, and it is what it is. They were able to get points going right into half, and they kind of took the momentum.”
Indian Lake uses that found momentum
The Lakers’ defense forced a 3-and-out to start the second half, then quickly put together a scoring drive that was finished with a 20-yard run by Noah Shirk to take a 14-7 lead. But as it has for most of the last two months, NU had an answer when Nickolas Hajjar lofted a jump ball 30 yards to the goal line that was won by Dainon Lindsey, tying it at 14-14.
Indian Lake couldn’t be stopped, putting together another scoring drive capped by an 8-yard run by Shirk. On its third possession of the half and its fourth series in a row, the Lakers scored again after a 41-yard Shirk run and a 3-yard TD run by him, putting the lead at 28-14.
With 5:46 left in the game, Hajjar and Lindsey hooked up for another 30-yard touchdown pass to make it a one-score game, but the Lakers put it away with Shirk’s fourth TD of the game, scoring from 3 yards to put it at 35-21 with 2:29 left. Indian Lake also beat NU 17-14 in Week 6.
“We came back and were able to do some things in the rain and kept answering and answering,” Coach Hajjar said. “That’s what our kids have been about this year. They’ve been fighting to the end, and they did. We just didn’t make enough plays tonight.”
The nine wins were the most by a North Union team since 2013. The three playoff wins matched the number won in 2020’s postseason, but this was the program’s first time bringing home a regional runner-up trophy. The Wildcats were 3-3 to start the season but ended by winning six of their last eight contests.
“It’s a season we’ll never forget and a new level for North Union football,” Hajjar said. “We’ll remember this. There will be a lot of good memories from this, but we’ve got to learn from it, too.”
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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: History made in North Union-Indian Lake regional title football game
Reporting by Rob McCurdy, Marion Star / Marion Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
